Tractor



March 20, 1928.

C. A. PETERS TRACTOR Filed Jan. 15, 19237 3 Sheets-Sheet 1\ [N VEN TOR ofi/vfuus A. PE. TEms flTTOR/VE rs March 20, 1928 1,662,982

c. A. PETERS TRACTOR Filed Jan. 15, 1925 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VENTOR CORNELIUS H. PETERd HrT-oR/VE rs w i k March 20, 1928 C. A. PETERS TRACTOR Filed Jan. 15, 1923 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 I/v VEN TOR CORNEL 1/6 4 FE TERJ llll/ flrToRn/E rs Patented Mar. 20, 1928.

UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE.

CORNELIUS A. PETERS, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, TO NEW BEEMAN TRACTOR COMPANY, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, A.

CORPORATION OF MINNESOTA.

TRACTOR.

Appliwtion filed January 15, 1923. Serial No. 612,681.

The objects of my invention are:

First: To simplify the construction of the tractor and reduce the cost of manufacture and upkeep by providing a light one-piece support of simple construction whereto the driving motor is removably connected, and provide means for distributing the strain evenly on said support to permit such light construction Second: To eliminate the usual crankshaft between the tractor wheels and provide a single straight axle without any differential mounted in a hearing at one end of the motor support;

Third: To simplify the mounting of the tractor wheels on said axle for lateral adjustment and reversal thereon;

Fourth: To provide an improved draft coupling connection between the axle and the draw-bars of the implement;

Fifth: To provide improved means for taking up downward thrust resulting from torque of the motor, relieve the load on the handle-bars and make the machine easier to operate; I

Sixth: To eliminate all loose pins and bolts and provide a minimum of parts of inexpensive construction requiring practically no machine work or fitting when the elements of the tractor are assembled, and in general provide a machine of low cost adapted particularly for light work.

The invention consists generally in various constructions and combinations all as hereinafter described and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification,

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view on the line l-1 of Figure 2;

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional View on the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a sectional view on the line 33 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a sectional view on the line 4-4: of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a detail sectional view showing the manner of connecting the draw-bars to the motor supporting bracket;

Figure 6 is a sectional view on the line 66 of Figure 7;

Figure 7 is a sectional view on the line 7--7 of Figure 6.

In the drawing, the supportmg bracketlike frame is shown as a one-piece casting composed of a lower bearing hub 2, an upper bearing hub 3, and an intermediate connectmg web 4. A single straight axle 5 is mounted in the hub 2 and projects outwardly beyond the bracket frame on each side.

Traction wheels 6 and 7 are mounted on the ends of said axle and free to slide laterally thereon. The outer ends of said hubs have annular grooves 8 therein and collars 9 are mounted on said axle and have keys 10 fitting a keyway 11 in the axle and secured therein by set-screws 12. The inner faces of said keys are preferably toothed or roughened as indicated at 13, so that the keys will more securely grip the bottom of the key- Way and prevent the collars from slipping. Each collar is provided with a curved flange 14 substantially semi-circular in form and curved to fitthe annular groove 8 inthe wheel hubs thereby preventing said hubs and the wheels from sliding in either direction on the axle but allowing a limited rotary movement thereof. The flanges 15 at the ends of the hubs have lugs 16 projecting outwardly therefrom, and the flange 14: overhangs the fiange 15 in the path of the lug 16 on the hubas the wheel rotates, for the purpose of limiting the degree of rotation.

As shown in Figure 7 the flange 14 is substantially semi-circular and the lug 0n the hub has a degree of movement equal to half the circumference of the circle before contacting with the flange 14. This freedom of rotary movement of the wheels is for the purpose of compensating for the difference in travel when the machine is turning and dispenses with the usual differential and divided axle.

Besides being laterally adjustable on the axle, the. wheels are reversible so that the locking collars 9 will be on the inner side of the wheels instead of on the outer side as shown, and when this is done, the hubs of the wheels can be projected a considerable distance beyond the ends of the axle and the width of tread of the machine thereby considerably increased. mounting the wheels, the width of tread of the machine can be easily and quickly increased or decreased to adapt the machine for the width of the rows of plants between which it is working.

At one end of the bearing hub 2 is a gear \Vith this manner of smaller 18 that is secured to a shaft 19 mounte in the bearin hub 3 parallel with whereupon the motor pinion will drop out .gear wheel and rojects the straight axle. T e shaft19 caring through the opposite end of the hub 3 and carries a large driving gear 20 loosely mounted thereon. The inner face of this gearv has a friction clutch 21 mounted thereon provided with an operating lever- 22. With the clutch in the position shown in Figure 2, the gear will be locked on the shaft to drive the gears 18 and 17 and the axle. Movement of the lever 22 however will disenga e the clutch and allow the gear 20 to run i le. This arrangement of the driving gears insures an even distribution of the strain upon the motor supportlng bracket and permits it to be of com arative- '1 light construction. I may, 0 course, Jrive direct from the large gear to the axle, but the arrangement shown is preferred.

A motor 23 of the single-cylinder aircooling type is rovided and has bosses 24 which are seate against the web 4 of the sup orting bracket. Bolts 25 ass through sai web and are tapped into said bosses and rigidly support the motor on the bracket in the osition shown in Figure 1, with the driving pinion 26 of the motor in mesh with the drive ear 20. This motor may be of any suitabiia design adapted for this purpose and may be easily and quickly mounted on the bracket frame in the manner described and as readil removed. It has the usual fan 27 and pro ects upwardly" between the wheels in front of the'bracket where it is conveniently accessible and where its weight will tend to im art a forward tilting movement to the brac et frame and-wheels. Separation of the motor from the rest of the machine is accomplished by removing the bolts,

of its meshin engagement with the rge permit removal of the motor. The bearing hub 2 has rearwardly projecting lugs 28 whereon studs 29 are mounted and provided with sockets to receive steering posts '30; the walls of said studs having transverse slots 31 through which pins 32 on said posts project and slide when said posts are rotated. A bell-crank 33 is mounted in bearings on one of said studs and has a link connection 34 with the lever 22, and a rod 35 within one of the posts connects the bell-crank 33 with a lever on the handlebars of the posts, notshown. By this means, the friction clutch is operated to lock or release the driving ear.

On the under si e of the studs 29, is a bar 36 having a flat under surface to contact with a wheel 37 .on a yoke 38. having depending parallel arms provided with verticalslots 39 and clamps 40 wherein draw-bars 41 are fitted and secured, vertical adjustment of the yoke on the draw-bars being tions 42 to which a yoke 43 is secure neeapea permitted b means of the clamps 40 and the slots 39. e rear of the draw-bars is connected with a suitable implement such as a cultivator, disk barrow or other groundworking implement. The forward ends of the draw-bars have upwardly turned q)!- suitable means such as bolts 44. y

The bearing hub 2 has a forwardly proa bolt 48 passes through this plate into the arm and hasa spacing collar 49 thereon between the plate 46 and a, guide plate '50 that is seated against the under side of the arm 45. The end of the guide 50 is upwardly turned and a latch 51 is mounted on the plate 46 by means of a bolt 52 and yieldingly held by a spring 53. This latch has a socket 54 to receive the head of the bolt 48 and also has an upwardly turned end portion 55 which extends u across the space between the plate 46 an the guide 50 and normally holds the yoke 43 from slipping out of its position between said plates, said yoke having a recess 56 therein to receive the spacing collar 49. With this coupling device, the draw-bars may be easily and quickly disengaged, from the tractor by pulling down on the locking latch to the posltion shown in Figure 5, and when it is desired to connect the draw-bars with the tractor, it is only necessary to engage the yoke 43 with the forward ends of the latch and the guide plate and exert horizontal pressure thereon when the plates will separate andautomatically allow the yoke to slip in between them to its locking position. This connecting of the draw-bars to the tractor may be accomplished by the operator by moving the tractor to a point astride of the draw-bars in the rear of their upwardly turned ends and to the tractor at a point in frontof the axle is to cause the bars and implements to initially turn in the samedirection as the tractor. Evidently, the arm 45 will swing in the same direction as the traction wheels and impart a similar movement to the drawbars, and they in turn will oscillate the implements in the same direction, whereas if connection had been made in the rear of the axle, the first movement of the draw-bars would be opposite to the direction the tractor is being turned. The operator of the tractor wit the form ofconnection shown herein between the draw-bars and the axle has quicker and better control over the.im-

neeaeea The bearing of the bar 36 on the wheel or roller 37 allows the steering posts to be always held on the same level even 'when the tractor is turned, which might not be the case if there was a'pivotal connection between the posts and the yoke 38. Furthermore, this bearing allows the posts to be lifted without raising the draft bars, and still during the operation of the machine the down thrust ofthe motor will be transmitted through the yoke to the draft bars, and relieve the operator of the load on the handlebars and render the machine much easier to handle.

To prevent the machine from tipping forwardly, and allow the operator to transmit downward pressure to the implement or lift it or control its lateral movement, I provide a bar 34 connected at its upper end to a hub 34 mounted on each steering post, the lower end of each bar having a slot 34 therein to receive a pin 34 on which said bar slides for a limited distance and prevents the machine from tipping forwardly and downwardly under the weight of the motor, the pin 34 being supported in an arm 34: that is mounted on the draft bar as shown in Figure 1; thus preventing the weight of the motor from ov'erbalancing and raising the steering posts to apoint above their normal working position when the machine is at rest. Evidently, there is considerable more weight in front of the axle than'in the rear thereof as far as the structure of the motor and its parts are concerned, and any tendency of the apparatus to tilt forwardly and downwardly, due to such position of the m0- tor, will be counteracted throu h the connection of thezsteering post-s wit the frame of the implement with which the tractor is being used.

In various ways, the details of construction herein shown may be modified and still be within the scope of my invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. A two-wheel traction machine comprising a one-piece axle and traction wheels therefor, a bracket of comparatively light construction journaled on said axle between said wheels, a shaft mounted in said bracket parallel with said axle, a motor secured to said bracket between said shaft and axle, one end of said shaft having a driving connection with said axle and the other end of said shaft having a clutch controlled gear connection with said motor, thereby evenly distributing the strain upon said bracket.

2. A machine of the class described, comprising a straight axle, wheels mounted thereon, a bracket of comparatively light construction having ahub at one end journaled on said axle between said wheels and provided with a fiat upwardly projecting web, a second hub upon the upper portion of said web, a shaft journaled in said second hub, a motor removably secured to said web between said hubs and having a clutch controlled driving connection with one end of said shaft, the other end of said shaft having a driving connection with said axle.

3. A machine of theclass described comprising an axle, wheels mounted thereon, a one-piece bracket having its lower portion journaled on saidaxle between said wheels, and projecting upwardly therefrom, a shaft mounted in the upper portion of said bracket, a motor havlng a driving pinion and means for securing said motor to said bracket between said shaft and axle, one end of said shaft having a gear connection with said axle, the other end of said shaft having a clutch controlled gear connection with said driving pinion.

4. A machine of the class described comprising an axle, supporting and traction means therefor, a one-piece casting having a hub at its lower end-journaled on said axle between said traction means, said casting having a web projecting upwardly from said hub, and a second hub integral with the upper portion of said web, a motor seated against said web and having means for securing it thereto, and provided with a driving pinion, a shaft mounted in said second hub, a comparatively large gear mounted on said shaft and meshing with said pinion, and driving connections between said shaft and said axle, release of said motor from said web allowing the separation of said pinion from said gear.

5. A machine of the class described comprising a bracket frame having an axle and traction and supporting means, a motor .mounted on said bracket frame, a steering device connected with said bracket frame for oscillating it and said traction and supporting means on a vertical axis to steer the machine, draft bars connected with said bracket frame beneath said steering device, means adjacent said bracket frame for transmitting to said draft bars the downward thrust on said steering device resulting from the torque of the motor, and relieving the steering device of such thrust, and means connecting said steering device with said draft bars in the rear of said thrust transmitting means for, lifting said draft bars In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this lOthday of January, 1923.

continues A. PETERS. 

